Childhood is the Kingdom Where Nobody Dies
by omgjerkstolemyname
Summary: Skull Boy reads Ruby's journal and finds out all her secrets...emphasis on ALL! When things can't get any worse, naturally, Misery comes into the scene. Will they survive the disaster? What will happen to Ruby and Skull Boy? Huh? HUH? Read and find out! It's rated "T" only because of violence.
1. Secret Safe

"Childhood is not from birth to a certain age, and at a certain age the child is grown, and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies."

"Umm..."

"I know, brilliant wasn't I? I must be an amazing poet!" Poe bragged. Everyone was seated in the library, reading, with the warm fire crackling behind them. Well, except for Scaredy, who was clinging to Iris for dear life, shivering vigorously.

"P-Poe, with all do r-respect, I do not think I can endure any m-more of your poetry," He managed to say.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Boo Boo muttered to himself.

"Wait, wait there's more!" Poe dramatically blabbed on and on. Ruby shoved a brown paper bag in Scaredy's mouth to stop his hyperventilating.

"...You drink it standing up, and leave the house. Quote Edna Mallay," Skull Boy finished for Poe, holding up the book Poe was reading and tapping the cover. Poe laughed nervously.

"Heheh...who knew my poetry and Edna 's were the same..."

"Bravo! Magnificent!" Ruby jokingly applauded. Skull Boy and Poe bowed.

"You know, it's kind of ironic you read that considering Skull Boy just turned 13, so he's not a 'child' anymore," Misery mumbled, her nose still in 'World's Most Deadly Tornados'. Scardey fainted. Ruby caught him and gently placed him on Doom Kitty's bed.

"Skull Boy's party is already over...what happened to the cake, Ruby?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Len added.

"It burst into flames," said Ruby, stifling a laugh, eyeballing Misery.

"I had to cough," Misery said in defense.

"Well don't worry, the new one should be ready any minute now," as if on cue, a high-pitched ring went off in the kitchen. "Oh, it's ready!" Ruby ran into the kitchen.

"Hey, what's that funny-looking book Ruby was reading?" said Len, pointing to the small blue book with a skull heart on it on Ruby's chair. Misery scooped it up and began to read it.

"Today was Skull Boy's Birthday, we threw a great surprise party..." Iris gasped.

"Misery, that's Ruby's journal! Remember what happened last time we read it? Put it down, put it down!" Misery held it so Iris couldn't reach it, and flipped a few pages back.

"Oh, look it's about you, Iris," Misery said, smirking. She knew Iris couldn't resist. Iris hesitated, biting her lip. But then curiosity overtook her and she leaped into the chair with Misery.

"Ooo, ooo! She said I'm the life of the party, haha!" exclaimed Iris. "Guys, there's stuff about you, too!" Doom tried to swipe it away, but was trampled by everyone crowding around Misery's chair, trying to get a glimpse into Ruby's mind. They could almost hear Ruby's voice when Misery read it.

"Do you think we're...you know...like 'invading Ruby's privacy'?" Skull Boy asked, rubbing his neck.

"Pithy! She said we rock..." started Frank.

"...And roll!" said Len, ignoring Skull Boy.

"Ruby thinks I'm a good poet...oh look a page on you, Skull Boy," Poe pointed to the page. Skull Boy couldn't help but look. He could feel guilt stabbing through him as he leaned over to see what she'd wrote. Iris read aloud.

"I spent most of my day today with Skull Boy...a perfect day if you ask me. I rode my bike around the house and he rode on his cool new invention. I'm not really sure what it is, but it looks like fun. It's a board with wheels on it with a little rocket on the back to make it go faster. He's so smart, and always makes the most incredible stuff. He's really sweet and funny, too. Sometimes, I think he's my favorite person in the world. Even when he messes up it's cute. Haha like when he tried to act like a brave adventurer and corner 'Mystery Man' on the train...but he got stuck in the trolley. Oh, Skull Boy. Even though he doesn't know who he's related to, I bet he's related to the most amazing and extraordinary people he world. The day he feels the same way about me is the day Scardey bat becomes fearless...only that could happen. But on the bright side, being best friends is more than I could ever ask for." Everyone stared at the page, even after Iris finished, in shock. Skull Boy's knees nearly buckled.

Suddenly a loud crash scared them out of their trance. Their heads whipped around to where the sound came from. Ruby stood there, shaking, pale as a ghost, with a smashed cake at her feet.


	2. Shaking

"Umm...wow, funny I forgot to uhh erase that. I wrote that as a prank in Ruby's journal 'casue I was bored...you know heheh..." Frank frantically tried to cover up, since Frank and Len already knew Ruby's secret.

"Frank, what are you talking about? We both know Ruby likes Skull Boy, we saw her crushing on him once remember?" Len said, completely confused. Frank gave himself a face-palm.

"You're not getting it, Len," He groaned. As soon as Skull Boy's eyes met Ruby's, her eyes began to fill with water that can only come from a mercilessly shattered heart. She zipped upstairs, Doom Kitty following.

Ruby let her waterfall of tears spill over and onto her pillow. She had never been this afraid in her life. Not when the Luna Monster was hunting them, or when 'Mystery Man' had Poe. This was a new kind of fear...one that is indescribable. Doom curled up next to her and patted her back with her tail, not knowing hat else to do.

"Oh, Doom," she sniffled, scooping Doom up and hugging her tight. "At least I have one friend I can trust. But what if Skull Boy never wants to talk to me again? Or my friends? Or...or..." Doom held a paw over her mouth, and hopped on Ruby's desk, and lit a candle. She pointed to it and hummed a familiar tune.

"Doom, I don't see a bright si-" Then Ruby sighed, a small grin appearing in the corner of her mouth. "Look on the just barley enough lightside that's the right side to see,"she sang softly. The tears slowly ceased. "When you love something set it free..."

"Because you'll always have a friend in me," Skull boy's low voice sang. "Ruby, can I come in?" Ruby just sat there staring at the door, forgetting how to move. She'd been brought back down to the earth, slamming into the ground with the realization of the situation. _Please, just leave. I want to be alone, please..._she thought. Her heart skipped a beat when the door slowly creaked open. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if anticipating an attack. They snapped open when she felt the bed move. Skull Boy was sitting on the edge of the bed, quivering slightly.

"H-hi," Ruby forced herself to say, but couldn't muster the strength look at him.

"Ruby...I-" Skull Boy began shaking hard.

"Skull Boy why are you..." Ruby realized it wasn't just Skull Boy, the whole bed was vibrating...and so was everything else! "What's happening?"

The doors to the bedroom were flung open by a terrified Misery.

"You've gotta get out of here now! I just-" Misery was hit with a flying drawer. Everything was suddenly being thrown back and forth vigorously.

"Misery...AHH!" Ruby screamed seeing the bed sliding towards her. Skull Boy shoved her out of the way. As if on instinct they clung to each other for dear life until a flying mirror hit them. They were all sobbing, wondering if this inhumane torture would ever end, and if they would live. And just like that, it all stopped.

"Oh, thank goodness...it's all over!" Ruby exclaimed with pure joy. Skull Boy let out a relived laugh. Misery muttered 'ow' as she climbed out from under the ruble. But it wasn't nearly over. A loud CRACK escaped from the middle of the house. The entire second floor was sent plummeting down in a death spiral into the ocean.

Childhood is the kingdom where no one dies, and so childhood can't save them anymore.


	3. No more disasters

The house sent a tidal wave in every direction when in crashed into the ocean floor. Ruby shoved a broken mirror off of her and examined the damage. Pain coursed through her arm whenever she touched it. Probably afracture she thought. Wait, fracture...Skull Boy!

"I-is everyone o-ok?" Ruby shouted, her voice wavering.

"I've been better," moaned Skull Boy. Ruby's heart fluttered with glee that he was alive.

"Misery?" Ruby began to crawl across the debris looking for her. Skull Boy followed.

"Ow," came a voice from beneath Skull Boy.

"Misery!" They both exclaimed, pulling her up onto Ruby's ripped mattress and hugging her like crazy. "I hate to be a downer, but I think we should watch out for that," Misery pointed to a crack forming in the right corner of Ruby's window.

"Everyone take cover!" ordered Skull Boy. The right window burst, letting water barbarically surge into the bedroom.

"GET TO HIGH GROUND!" screamed Misery. "It worked for my great, great, great, great..." Misery began to zone out, but luckily Ruby yanked out of the way before the water swept her away.

"Up here!" Beckoned Skull Boy from on top of Ruby's broken bed frame. He pulled them up to safety.

"Thank you!" Ruby almost hugged him, but then remembered how awkward that might be, and quickly hugged the frame like she was trying to hang on. She could see the water charging at them like an angry bull below her, wondering how...and why...oh why...

"How did this happen?" Ruby asked.

"Well I was having a jump roping contest with Iris...which results in an immediate earthquake...but I promise I won't start any more disasters," said Misery. Suddenly, a chunk of the ceiling fell onto Misery's head with a crack. "Ow," she muttered before sinking into the depths of despair.

"Misery!" Ruby and Skull Boy shouted together. Without hesitating they dove into the water, searching for Misery. Ruby swam deeper, repeating in her head: we'll find you. We'll find you. We'll find you,in attempt to comfort herself. She felt something touch her ankle, but ignored it.

Underwater was a nightmare wasteland; huge objects threatening to crush you in what little light there was, and the stabbing feel of longing to see your friends alive. But at last, there was a glint of hope. They spotted a floating body with long black hair. Misery. They swam up to the surface and Skull Boy hoisted her onto Ruby's orange floating mattress.

"Misery? Misery?" Ruby shook her.

"She's fine," Skull Boy calmly told Ruby "I can feel her pulse," he placed Ruby's hand under his to feel the pulse in Misery's neck. A relieved sigh escaped from their mouths at the thought of her being alive, and Ruby began to pull her hand away from Misery. Skull Boy's hand slid into hers, until they were holding hands. They gazed into each other's eyes, and for a moment, all the fear, worry, and sorrow had been washed away. And then that moment ended. Skull Boy began to pull Ruby up onto her mattress with him, but something stopped her.


	4. My Heart Will Go On

"My ankle!" Ruby gaped in horror, tugging at the thick drapes taught around it. Skull Boy immediately dove underwater, desperately trying to yank her ankle free. With every pull, it's death grip on her ankle got tighter and tighter.

"(Gasp) do you have any (gasp) scissors or knives or something?" asked Skull Boy when he resurfaced, still trying to catch his breath.

"I don't know, maybe-" Ruby was cut of by a loud splash. They were surrounded by darkness, except for a dull, candle in a glass bulb above them.

"Well that's just great," Skull Boy muttered angrily. He quickly swam underwater for a little while and came back up. " Hey, I'm a pretty good swimmer...maybe I am related to a long line of scuba divers! But even scuba divers can't see in the dark..." Ruby couldn't help but laugh.

"Haha, I'll try," She submerged herself under water. Even though it was hopeless, they kept trying and trying to pry her ankle free, which didn't make a difference.

"Ruby, don't bother. It's pitch black down there and every time you come up for air, the knot gets even tighter," Skull Boy sighed. "But the water is rising fast, and if we can't get you free and you're head above water..." Skull Boy looked down. He could not bear to finish his sentence. Ruby gently raised his head up with her hand until their eyes met.

"Look on the bright side...we have this time now," She said with her soothing, optimistic tone. Skull Boy could still see tears in her pleading eyes. He took the hand on his face, and slowly pulled it down, holding it tight.

"Ruby...did you really mean all those things you said about me?" He asked. Ruby blushed madly, but then took a huge breath and answered.

"Of course I did." A small grin stretched across her face. Just then, a beautiful melody came from behind them.

"Near, far. Where ever you are I believe the heart will go on..." Misery sang softly in her unconscious state. It made tears begin to well up in Skull Boy's eyes. Ruby saw the moisture in his eyes, and so they slowly inched closer. And closer. And closer. Until...

GASP! Ruby sucked in as much air as she could while the water rose up to her nose. She moved her arms around to try to stay afloat, but the sharp pain from her fractured arm made it impossible. Skull Boy quickly understood and dove underwater and again, tried to loosen the knot, but only made it worse. He resurfaced, feeling complete despair and failure.

" (Gasp) Skull Boy, you can't waste your time (gasp) trying to save me. (Gasp) Try to find a way out for you and Misery," Ruby basically asked, no, begged for him to let her die and save himself. "I'll be (gasp) okay! Go Skull Boy!"

"No! I can't..."

"For me? Please promise, (gasp) for me, that you will go. (Gasp) This isn't the end. (Gasp) Promise me Skull Boy," Ruby cried, pleading. "I love you," she whispered. Then, she was engulfed by water. Tears were streaming down Skull Boys face, knowing there was nothing he could do now. He forced himself to go, she would never want him to die for her, even though he wanted to.

"Let it go, you have to do what she said," Skull Boy whispered to himself. He swam Misery on the mattress around and around, searching for a way out. "This is for you Ruby," he repeated over and over.

Soon, the water hit the ceiling, making the room pure black, except for that little light bulb, that still dimly shined_. _No, no, no, you promised,thought Skull Boy. At last, he and Misery squeezed through the broken window and out into the blue world. Determination ripped through him as he swam up with all his might to the surface before the oxygen-craving pain in his chest knocked him out.


	5. Thump, thump Thump, thump

Ruby was laid down carefully on Poe's couch.

"Ruby!" Iris screamed, throwing her arms around her. "I'm so happy to see you! We..." Iris saw that Ruby didn't hug back. "Ruby?"

"Hey, Ruby!" Frank and Len shouted, strumming their guitar loudly.

"Boo!" yelled Boo Boo. No scream in response.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" Scardey tapped on her hand. Doom hopped on top of her, licking her face to wake her up. She just laid there still.

"Hello? Ruubbyyyyyy it's me, Miiiissseerryyyy," Misery said, balancing an ice pack on the bump where the block of ceiling hit her.

"Skull Boy why won't Ruby listen to us?" Iris demanded. Skull Boy slowly walked over to Ruby's still body, and felt her wrist.

"There's suppose to be a throbbing," muttered Skull Boy.

"What?" Asked everyone, puzzled.

"Her pulse! Her heart beat! Some sign that she's still alive!" he yelled at them. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell," he turned around to look out the window. "But...she's gone," his voice cracked and a lump in his throat formed.

"Didn't she already die, Frank?" Len asked, confused.

"Oh yeah! She went through the five stages of death and turned into a ghost and then brought us cucumber sandwiches," Frank recalled.

"Can you die twice?"

"Of course, Len, you have to use a silver bullet," Frank said like Len was the stupidest person in the world.

"Isn't that for werewolves?"

"Seriously, Len?" Frank groaned. "You use garlic for those." Iris burst into tears and darted out of the room.

"This is all my fault!" sobbed Misery, following Iris.

"Poor Ruby," Boo Boo and Scardey said together. They loped out of the room with Frank and Len right behind them. Only Doom Kitty and Skull Boy stayed. Doom was curled up on the lifeless Ruby, unable to leave her best friend. She solemnly hummed Ruby's song, making Skull Boy remember her sweet voice singing it moments before the disaster.

"Doom, Skull Boy, Iris wants you in the kitchen...or what is left of it..." Scaredy's voice made them jump, but they didn't move. "She would like you to come now, if you don't mind." Doom hesitated, then gave Ruby once last lick on the cheek, and walked out the door with Scaredy.

"Are you coming Skull Boy?" Scaredy said while waiting at the door. No response. "Okay...if you need us we will be in the kitchen." And with that, he wiped his watery eyes with his wing, and sadly flew away.

"I kept my promise Ruby," Skull Boy whispered to her, who could not hear him. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry for leaving you for the Skeletunes. I'm sorry for being so wrapped up in who I am to not be as good a friend to you as you are to me...and I'm sorry for not being brave enough to tell you all those years..." Skull Boy knelt down by her side. "I love you." He felt like whole life now had no meaning, no light, and no happiness. It was as if the gravity holding him to the ground had been taken away, leaving him floating in space: nothingness. He pressed his lips against her soft lips, holding them there, imagining that she was alive. After a minute, he slowly got up, and began to walk away.

Something snapped. Whenever Skull Boy touched Ruby, her heart would accelerate uncontrollably. The feeling of their lips touching triggered something, something deep inside of her. Memories flashed through her head.

They were on a train.

'Hey guys! What's up?' Ruby ran to Skull Boy and flung her arms around him.

'Oh Skull Boy, it's you!' she exclaimed. Suddenly, she was on the porch of a falling house.

The house slammed into the ground. 'They did it! They did it! We're safe on the ground!' Ruby announced. Skull Boy wrapped his arms around Ruby and they hugged each other. Then, she was on the balcony.

'...when you love-when you like something set if free!_' _sang Ruby

'Cause you'll always have a friend in me_,' _Skull Boy chimed in.

'When you look on the bright or the barley enough light side!_'_ Their song faded and the scene went blurry. Colors flickering wildly, until blackness engulfed them. Sounds burst out everywhere in her head...then, silence, accept for a faint thumping. Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Skull Boy reached the door when he heard the only voice he'd ever want to hear. It made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Sk-Skull Boy? Is that you?"


	6. Love part 1

**18 Years Later**

A short girl with messy, knee length blonde hair sat on the old wooden bench of the train station. It was a tall, stone building with moss beginning to form on its sides. She stared into the perfectly gloomy sky, feeling the cold winter breeze nip at her neck. Her freckled face was scrunched up with sadness.

"Sunny? Are you okay?" a smooth and gleeful voice said. She turned her head to see a tall read head, with spiky hair pulled back into a loose braid, who wearing a long, black coat. She looked back at the sky.

"I don't want to," she answered in a simple monotone. The woman sighed and slid next to Sunny and held her shaking hand.

"You know leaving the only way to keep you out of the dangers of the war. Besides, Gloomsville is full of adventures. I lived there and loved every second of it." The red head forced her to look into her eyes. Sunny's green eyes were filled with water threatening to overflow. No, she would not leave. This wasn't fair! She loved her family and didn't want to live in a Victorian mansion with complete strangers. Why did life just have to toss her feelings out the window and never care about them again? "Look on the bright side," the woman said softly "that exact house is where I met..."

"SKULLBOY!" a loud, gravely voice screamed.

"Ahh!" The skeleton exclaimed with surprise. Their heads whipped around to see someone with long black hair tackling Skull Boy. They couldn't help but die laughing.

"Iris, I think he's suffocating," giggled the red head, jogging over to them with Sunny in hand.

"Oops, sorry, Skull Boy!" Iris immediately released her grip on him. He crawled away, gasping for air. "It has just been FOREVER...oh, Ruby!" and now Iris was on top of Ruby, hugging her.

"Iris you're going to kill someone," chuckled Skull Boy. After they were done practically attacking each other, Iris began looking around madly.

"Where's..." she began but was cut off by a loud guitar strumming.

"Right here!" announced Frank, running up to Iris and pecking her on the cheek. Everyone's jaws dropped. What exactly had they missed...? ALOT apparently. They nearly fell down when they saw Frank holding a six year old. And they almost passed out when they saw Frank...ONLY Frank...no Len...

"Oh, I think I have, uh, some explaining to do..." laughed Frank nervously. "Okay, so Len and I were testing Mr. Mumbles's new roller coaster and Len, being Len, decided he changed his mind and wanted to get off. The ride already started though and...yeah."

"...and now we are engaged!" Iris said excitedly, flashing her sparkly ring. Then, seeing their faces, added more detail. "...Oh, Len is fine by the way and this kid is his cousin's...we've just been taking care of him for a while," Everyone chuckled let out a relieved sigh. Len showed up a few minutes later into a dog pile of hugs. Soon, lightning lit up the sky indicating Misery's entrance.

"Ow," she muttered after being squeezed to death by everyone.

"You have kids?" asked Ruby.

"Not exactly...Misbegone don't play with matches!" Misery ordered, swiping away the match. Naturally, it just then lit on fire causing Misery to burst into flames. Skull Boy frantically dumped a bucket of water on her head to put her out. "This is what happens when your aunt is too lazy to send her triplets on the train herself." Muttered Misery.

Suddenly a faint choo choo came from the distance.


	7. Love part 2

"The train...it's here so soon," gasped Ruby who was looking at the bench where Sunny was sitting, giving her toddler skeleton brother, Galileo, a bottle. "We have to talk to Sunny," Ruby told Skull boy. He nodded, and they walked over to Sunny and sat on either side of her.

"I don't want to leave you!" cried Sunny, burying her tear-covered face into Ruby's chest. She could already feel the emptiness in her heart from longing to stay with her family.

"We love you and nothing will ever change that," Skull Boy said, taking her hand.

"It's more of a seeya than a good bye," came Ruby's melodic voice.

"There's no need for you to cry," Skull Boy joined in.

"When you look on the bright or the barley enough light side," they all sang together. Sunny grinned slightly from her parent's goofiness.

"But I'll miss you," Sunny sniffled, now curled up in their laps. Ruby reached into her bag, and pulled out a tattered blue book with a white skull heart on the cover.

"This is my diary, and my scrap book. I took pictures of all of my favorite memories, and recorded them. I never filled the whole thing...so the empty pages are for you," the red head slid the book into her hands. Sunny flipped through the pages, in awe of how amazing and beautiful her friendships were. She laughed at the pictures of Iris and Squig crashing. She hummed to the lyrics of Frank and Len's songs. She grinned like an idiot at Ruby's romantic entries of Skull Boy. It was like living Ruby's life, and like she said, loving every second of it. Then she reached the last full page that said at the top 'I loved my adventures, now go live yours'. It had a picture of Sunny, Galileo, Ruby, Skull Boy, taped to a picture of all of Ruby's friends. As a caption under the pictures, was: 'family is for all life. Love is forever'. A stream of tears dripped down Ruby and Skull Boy's faces, looking back on their memories. For once that day they all felt warm inside, happy. Instead of the cold bitterness of saying goodbye.

"ALL ABOARD!" The conductor snapped them back into awareness. Sunny gave them one last long, hug. As if trying to hold onto her old life so it wouldn't slip away. The conductor eventually had to pry her off and force her in line with the other children.

"Wait!" shouted Skull Boy. He quickly shoved something soft into Sunny's hands. She held it up, it was a bunny rag doll. "This can be your first new friend, Mr. Buns." Sunny held him, and said:

"We're going to have all kinds of adventures, Mr. Buns."

"Who's Mr. Buns?" came a low voice. She turned around to see a boy, with fringe-cut brown hair and dazzling bright blue eyes.

"Oh, my f-friend," she stuttered, completely lost in his sapphire eyes. A smile stretched across his face and he pulled out a gray puppy from his bag.

"Cool, I have a friend too. Her name is Gloom Dog," he patted her head. "Just don't tell...we aren't allowed to have pets." Funny, Ruby told Sunny a similar story about Doom Kitty.

"You can trust me," Sunny giggled with a wink. His cheeks began to turn a faint shade of pink. Sunny quickly scooped up Galileo and boarded the train holding the boy's hand.

"That's just like how we met," Skull Boy whispered into Ruby's ear, who replied with a soft kiss.

"You kept your promise," she said sweetly.

And, as the train left, leaving a trail of steam behind, Ruby took Skull Boy's hand, and he took Iris's, who slipped hers into Frank's, who held Len's, who grabbed Misery's hand. They all stood there, hand in hand, as a whole family. Never ending, forever, as one.

Childhood is the Kingdom where nobody dies.

So when you grow old, and do die, just remember love is more powerful than anything, even death.

Because death and farewells are an ending point, a match being put out.

But** love** is the fiery sun that burns** forever.**


End file.
